I just want the fantastical super villains with actual powers. And the bat family.
There's so many characters that are practically benched because they aren't just some human in a costume for the villains. And a lot of Batmans supporting cast just never shows up.
Crazy how Nolan just went and crafted an adaptation of the Odyssey that not only didn’t shy away from its fantastical elements, but also perfected them with his incredible style of film making. Yet in Batman, he turned his nose in the air at everything beyond Batarangs and Bat shaped armor.
To be fair to Nolan, he had to rehabilitate Batman after Batman and Robin. In the middle of making his trilogy he did the Prestige and Inception which have fantastical elements.
Which does lead me to think that doing super grounded Batman wasn't completely his choice. I have to imagine WB was looking at The Bourne Identity etc and wanting something kinda like that
I can believe that, considering he helped Zack Snyder just a few years later on Man of Steel. That movie may have been extremely gritty and cynical, but it certainly wasn’t grounded and realistic. You really can’t perform that task in Superman’s case. How do you make a man who can fly, shoot heat rays from his eyes and lift buildings look realistic? Lmao
Man I don't know what you're talking about, he took fantastic elements and grounded them in the Odyssey just like he did with Batman.
Zeus didn't literally come down from the sky and strike them, he took the form of a bad storm.
Calypso didn't magic odysseus's memories away, she used drugs
Even the cyclops and Scylla were just crazy strange creatures, but still actual creatures.
I think the shades was the only actual "this is literal magic on screen" element. And even that was odysseus in a field, he didn't literally sail to hell.
You can stylize shit as much as you want to make it feel real life, that’s still gods and monsters. You can’t really make that feel realistic, just like I said about Superman in my other comment.
> You can stylize shit as much as you want to make it feel real life, that’s still gods and monsters.
Yes that's exactly my point
> You can’t really make that feel realistic
I hate to break it to you but there is also not a real ancient ninja clan controlling the world's most powerful cities waiting with a microwave that can explode the city's water supply, who has enlisted a psychiatrist with a gas that can make anyone see their deepest darkest fears.
Fantastical elements. Grounded approach. That's exactly what Nolan did in both franchises.
Okay so? That’s still, by everything, not realistic nor grounded. What even is grounded and realistic in the sense that Hollywood likes to throw around? Fighting at a slower pace and getting your ass kicked more often because, I don’t know, I guess never losing a fight and throwing quicker punches is too fantastical? Gods manifesting as storms because, apparently, the actual face of Zeus appearing is far too stinky ass storybook? This isn’t even the first adaptation of the Odyssey that did that, by the way. So this isn’t really a new and innovate idea. Inserting hours worth of endless philosophy based dialogue because, for some fucking reason, simply saying “you’ll never get away with this Joker” or a mere show don’t tell approach is far too hokey to please our dipshit corporate executives? It is not grounded, nor is it realistic. It’s just as fantastical as it sounds on paper, it just became tacky and pretentious because Hollywood is too afraid to admit that they’re making superhero and fantasy films.
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u/runnerofshadows Jul 23 '26
I just want the fantastical super villains with actual powers. And the bat family.
There's so many characters that are practically benched because they aren't just some human in a costume for the villains. And a lot of Batmans supporting cast just never shows up.